This Twins victory is one for the books

The Minnesota Twins had no trouble locating the sweet spot, but finding the right adjectives was a bit tougher.

Jason Kubel hit a grand slam, and the Minnesota Twins handed Jon Garland one of the worst beatings of his career while outscoring the Chicago White Sox, 20-14, in the first game of a day-night doubleheader.

Manager Ron Gardenhire called it “a very interesting win,” Kubel said “it was just a weird game,” and Joe Mauer couldn’t recall being in one like this.

“Nothing comes to mind right now,” he said. “Crazy things happen as a player.”

It was the most runs for the Twins since they scored 23 against Cleveland on June 4, 2002. The White Sox had not surrendered 20 since April 2, 1998, against Texas.

The 34 combined runs were the most since May 19, 1999, when Cincinnati beat Colorado, 24-12, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

“We couldn’t do anything,” White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen said.

“We made errors, gave up 20-something hits, give up 20 runs. I don’t think it was a big league baseball game today.”

Garland (6-6) yielded 12 runs, 11 of them earned, and gave up 11 hits, tying a season high.

He did all that in only 3 1/3 innings, his earliest exit since lasting 2 2/3 innings against Detroit on Aug. 19, 2004.

“The result was absolutely terrible,” Garland said. “I’m embarrassed by it. It shouldn’t happen.”

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* Tampa Bay 6, at Kansas City 5: Winless since beating the Dodgers on June 24, the Devil Rays ended their losing streak at 11 games, the longest in the majors this season. It was their longest since a 12-game skid in 2004 that also ended in Kansas City. It was also their second victory in their last 23 July road games dating to July 29, 2005.

* at Detroit 9, Boston 2: Curtis Granderson hit the first pitch of the fifth inning over the right-field fence, giving the Tigers a three-run lead. Marcus Thames’ grand slam later in the inning made the score 8-1.

* at Toronto 8, Cleveland 6: Roy Halladay gave up five runs and nine hits over 5 2/3 innings but improved to 5-0 with a 3.84 earned-run average in 10 appearances against the Indians, including nine starts.

* at Texas 4, Baltimore 3 (10 innings): Michael Young’s one-out run-scoring single in the 10th inning gave the Rangers the win after closer Eric Gagne gave up a run in the ninth for his first blown save of the season.

* Seattle 7, at Oakland 1: Adrian Beltre was five for five with two homers and the Mariners took advantage of a league record-tying four errors by A’s third baseman Marco Scutaro to beat All-Star Dan Haren for the second time this season.

* Minnesota 20-12, at Chicago 14-0: The Twins won the opener with their most runs since they scored 23 against Cleveland on June 4, 2002. The White Sox had not given up 20 runs since April 2, 1998, against Texas. Justin Morneau hit three home runs and drove in six runs in the second game.

* at New York 14, Angels 9: Bartolo Colon, who was 5-0 with a 3.69 ERA after his first six starts, is 1-4 with a 9.07 ERA in eight starts since.

From the Associated Press